Somersworth cops, kids make art, friendships

SOMERSWORTH — Police officers may have gotten a little paint on their uniforms Thursday morning when they stopped by to create a mural with students at the John Powers School in Somersworth.

It was one of a number of outreach activities by police to show children that police are approachable and there to help.

The students worked on an Earth Day mural with police on that will eventually be displayed outside near their playground.

The Powers School is part of the Strafford Learning Center and is an alternative learning environment for students in grades 1-9.

In January the students enjoyed “Pizza with Police." Thursday’s follow-up event was spearheaded by Officer Ashley Fuller.

Fuller said the students wanted to do a project for Earth Day and initially wanted to clean up a park or playground, but the weather has been uncooperative.

“They wanted to paint the walls, but we decided to do a mural on canvas,” Fuller said. “It will hang outside on the shed, adjacent to the playground.”

The mural was painted on a large piece of canvas, spread out on the floor, where each student could add their individual contribution to the Earth Day theme.

Adieliah painted part of the centerpiece, a depiction of Earth.

“The environment is important and it helps the earth and the animals so they don’t eat trash and choke on it,” Adieliah said. “I also like to draw fairy-tale characters like dragons and creatures.”

Cassandra said she painted the words, "world peace," and feels that would be very good for the environment as well.

“I painted the letters the 'Earth colors' to represent the Earth,” Cassandra said. “I like doing creative things and using my imagination for art. It is one of my favorite things.”

Cassandra said sometimes she gets her friends to help her clean up trash around the neighborhood.

School counselor Jennifer Rice said about 20 students participate in the group counseling and helped with the mural.

She said a project like the mural is important because it gives them the opportunity to think outside themselves.

“Once on display the mural will be something they can take pride in,” Rice said. “They have a lot of talent and they don’t even know it until they try.”

She said the police presence has made a real difference in the school and helped to change the perception to the point that some of the older kids see what is possible and want to get into police work.

“The idea is to the build a bridge between the children and the police department,” Rice said. “Too often, our students only have a negative experience with the police and their parents.”